Connect
by 1cupoftea
Summary: Unlinked drabbles of different characters/relations of AVALANCHE.
1. Ice Cream

"Let's go get ice cream."

Marlene looked up from her drawing. Cloud was standing rather awkwardly at the doorframe, dressed in casual clothes with wallet in hand. His eyes shifted around the room to survey the mess left behind with strewn clothes, toys and books. She shared it with Denzel, so it wasn't a surprise.

She looked back down at her work as if to consider the prospect before slowly standing to pack up the crayons. Her eyes were still pinned to the table and she made sure to take her time collecting the crayons, facing them the right way in the tin, arranging them carefully by color order…

"So..?" He mumbled questionably after strained silence and she snapped shut the faded metal box. The unfinished picture was tacked neatly on the wall before she gave a small nod and strode towards him. Her eyes darted anywhere but his own and she gingerly accepted his outstretched hand.

"Have fun!" Tifa waved them off from behind the bar counter as they left the house, but Marlene wasn't looking to catch it.

Cloud was tinkering with the bike as she stood beside it. It was a warm day and it was propped outside the front door instead of the garage for practical purposes. She was glad, as she couldn't imagine standing in a stuffy oven of a room as he tended to it.

"Marlene," he said softly as he swung his leg over to sit on the seat, "..have you ever ridden with me before?"

She climbed onto the seat after him. "Yes," she said, a slight sting to her voice, "you rode me to school once."

He nodded awkwardly and, after making sure she was secure, started accelerating before anything else was said. Marlene suddenly clasped her arms around his torso when the bike started moving and she tried to drown out the awful roar of the engine. She hated that noise.

They glided down the street, swerving between pedestrians and cars, curving around street corners, skidding on pavement edges.

She only noticed they stopped when Cloud started getting off the bike and carefully pealed herself from his back, blushing in the realisation that she had buried her face in his shirt the whole time.

He helped her hop off and they made their way to the end of the queue which seemed to have stalled in a long snake. The quaint shop was especially popular in times of hot weather, much to the chagrin of Marlene who's appetite had grown during their short ride. Admittedly her mood had calmed too, and she didn't feel quite as angry at him as she did before.

But whenever she thought back to it, to the pain of the way he missed school events - and not some, but EVERY single one with little to no explanation. And when he'd promise to do something, just the two of them, and then mutter an apology at the last minute; or the awkward moment when her friend would come over and ask 'Who's that?' and she would find herself tongue-tied. When he showed up at practically the end of her birthday party out of breath because of some 'important' delivery, it was the last straw. Marlene was heartbroken, and Tifa was furious.

She was snapped away from her thoughts when Cloud knelt down to her level. The queue dissolved gradually, and they were already halfway through. The sun painted the buildings in orange and glowed like fire in the horizon. It was getting late.

"Hey, Marlene..," He looked like he was going to say something important, but then he quickly asked, "what's your favourite flavour?"

She pondered the question for a while. Cloud already had his answer. "Mine's chocolate. Never liked strawberry though, and mint chocolate chip …" He trailed off and she took the chance.

"Ew. Mint is gross." Her face wrinkled in disgust and he couldn't help but laugh. "Vanilla is nice though, although Daddy hates it and says it tastes like...really bad stuff." She quickly avoided the use of a profanity.

Cloud chuckled again. "Tifa loves it…but I think toffee is her favourite. Remember the time we bought that tub at the supermarket?"

"And she ate all of it in one day?" She finished excitedly and beamed up at him with a smile that challenged the sun. They found themselves at the front of the queue and ordered with concealed grins. "One chocolate, please.", she said to the cashier.

"And one vanilla. In a cone." Cloud took her hand and they strolled to a nearby table with their ice cream. She felt better. Maybe he was getting better too….Tifa had always tried to explain the hardship Cloud was going through that caused him to stall in close interactions, but she never really understood until now when he was trying his best to reach out to her.

When they arrived home, Tifa felt her heart melt when Marlene hugged him shyly with a quiet 'thank you' before scurrying up the stairs.


	2. Yuffie Kisaragi and Vincent Valentine

Yuffie momentarily stopped chatting as Vincent eased himself into the seat next to her. She reddened slightly, as they'd been talking about him, and hoped to the ends of the earth that he hadn't heard anything.

Tifa gave a knowing smile, giving Vincent a glass of beer, and Yuffie quickly averted her eyes to her drink. She pursed her lips before looking up again at the man beside her.

"So, Vincent, come here often?"

"I live here." He took a sip of beer. The Seventh Heaven's extra guest room had been his home while he was still trying to find a decent flat. He couldn't bare stay in the Mansion for another decade.

"Oh, yeah…" She wanted to hit herself with a brick.

An awkward silence engulfed them and the room suddenly felt stuffier. Recently their conversations couldn't help fall into this cycle. Whenever she wasn't the hyperactive ninja everyone knew and loved she found herself searching for something to say, for something else to talk about that wouldn't usually end in her being dismissed in annoyance. People assumed she was always happy because she was loud. After all, wasn't she just some brash, annoying brat to most? No-one would take her seriously when she made an attempt to really say something meaningful or conversation-worthy. _"Whats wrong, Yuffie? Sugar high run out?"_

Vincent was one of the only people, other than her other close friends of course, that she felt didn't perceive her as an ignorant, loud-mouthed child. They could see she was so much more than her endless chatter and playful attitude. With him, she was sure that he listened to every word that came out of her blabbering mouth, despite not showing the least interest or making the slightest acknowledgement that he was listening. But the way he nodded slowly at times or briefly glanced at her with an intent gaze made her stomach melt and - if she was being perfectly honest - it confused her.

Now they were sitting at the bar in Seventh Heaven with a half-grinning barmaid and an atmosphere so tense it could be cut with a knife. When had it become so awkward with him? Normally she was to the brim with things to say. At the moment she felt like a deflated balloon. A fire that lost its spark. _What would get him to like her instead of just deter him away this time… What does he even like to talk about? Poetry? Classic literature?_

She coughed awkwardly. _"_Well, have you stayed in touch with the others?….I haven't really talked to anyone besides the Strifes."

Tifa flashed her a glare at the use of the 'family' name but then her eyes suddenly gleamed.

"Oh, you know what Vincent, the earlier today Yuffie and I were talking - about you, actually, and -"

"Why don't you fill me up, Teef?" She interrupted, thrusting her empty glass in her face. Tifa barely contained a smirk as she took it wordlessly. Yuffie just glared at her as she seemed to flounce away, humming to herself. She was so cheerful all of a sudden, more than she had been for the last few days…. A snide remark suddenly sparked and fused in her mind and she opened her mouth before she could think.

"Someone's in a good mood. Did something happen last night between you and Spikey? Its about time, I would say…"

Tifa reddened visibly and stuttered. "No! Wh-what would give you _that _idea? And what the hell do you mean '_its about time?_'"

Yuffie just smirked to herself as Vincent chuckled beside her. _Yesss, I made Dracula laugh_. She accepted her refilled glass and took a large gulp. She felt his gaze on her and slammed down the glass on the counter, confidence picking up.

"Whatcha you looking at, Vince? Your next meal?" She couldn't help belt a laugh and wipe her mouth with the back of her hand. "Guess no-one falls to your fancy shmancy vampiric charm anymore…no wonder you look more pale than usual." Another crude laugh and a slap of a knee. The gears were turning in her head. She felt _herself _again, she could _be _herself around him - no matter if he liked her lame jokes or not; or if she intrigued him in any way at all.

He merely looked at her and sighed. "Typical." His attention was focused back to his drink.

She stopped abruptly. "What? What's typical?

"You - this behaviour, your jokes…typical Yuffie.

She turned to face him fully. "What? Do ya have a problem with that, Vinnie? Maybe you're just too taken away with my-"

"I missed it."

She stopped in the middle of her boasting and stared at him blankly. A second or two of silence endured before he made his way to stand. He thanked Tifa, and bade everyone goodnight before disappearing up the stairs.

She blinked and looked around. Tifa was suddenly intently focused on a stubborn stain on the counter top. Cloud, who had earlier meandered in silently, was awkwardly shuffling delivery orders and bills at the table. Again, silence reigned and Yuffie shattered it with a scrape of her chair.

"W-well, um, you know, I should call it a night too…haha…big day tomorrow!" She tried to sound collected and bouncy beneath her unusually flustered state, but it seeped through nonetheless. Her heart pounded, her face flushed. '_Missed it'….she thought he hated it. She thought it bored him to no end. Did he think….she was funny? _ Yuffie mumbled something about sleeping on the spare couch upstairs and fled before anyone could tease her.

When she was gone, Tifa let out the giggle she was keeping in. She sighed, wiping down the counter. "Oh, Yuffie….have you ever seen her so flustered? And she was _blushing!_ I swear to God, Vincent better not screw this up."

"Well, you know him. He's like a plank of wood when it comes to outwardly showing emotion." Cloud stood up and began piling the cheques neatly. Tifa made his way over to help, giving him a peck on the cheek with a teasing smile.

"Oh, come on Cloud, he's not that bad. He's better than you anyway.."

"_Hey!_"


End file.
